>> this is why they won't give it up. they will keep coming. and so will we. it's time to stop trying to rig the system. stop trying to cheat. it's time to make voting easier, not harder. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. judgment to rush. let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this. victory has 100 fathers, john f. kennedy said, defeat is an orphan. let me tell you the people in the republican conservative parts of this country are rip. they had it in november -- rather, they had it 34 it in october. they lost it in november. somehow like an nfl receiver, they saw that football landing in their hands, saw it floating right in there, and then it

managed to slip right through. gone. the whole ball game. the game they had won now lost. and that's why they're looking for someone to blame. they can't blame that liberal obama, so they're blaming that liberal romney. that northeastern liberal crowd. texas senator-elect ted cruz is crueler still. he accuses romney of going out there and french kissing obama. yes, they're blaming romney now. they were blaming chris christie for working with obama during hurricane sandy. now they're blaming romney for dancing with him through the election. get it? the strict orthodox side of the republican party are blaming the candidate himself for giving away their virtue. ed rendell is the former governor of pennsylvania, and msnbc political analyst. matt kibbe is the president of freedomworks. governor and matt, this is the most unusual pairing i've ever been part of, you and matt kibbe, you and the man of the northeast establishment, a moderate governor of pennsylvania. here is matt railing at the ramparts against all you represent. this should be interesting. the right fights back. since the election a lot of

republicans' soul searching has focused on the need to broaden the political base of the republican party. fiscal and social conservatives are saying that's the wrong message. the correct takeaway, they say, from the election is that the party was too moderate. here is tea party favorite ted cruz, the senator-elect from texas. let's watch him. >> inevitably there are these mandarins in politics who give the voice, don't show any contrast, don't rock the boat. so by the third debate, i'm pretty certain mitt romney actually french kissed barack obama. >> well, social conservative bob vander plaats of "the family leader" told "the washington post," quote, the moderates have had their candidate in 2008 and they had their candidate in 2012, and they got crushed in both elections. new they tell us we have to keep moderating. if we do that, will we win? and tea party senator jim demint of south carolina had this to say about moderate senatorial candidates.

quote, what i learned is the people who are still out there running on bold ideas, those conservatives won. in the case of rehberg, berg, and tommy thompson, having a moderate candidate does not win races for republicans. i want to start with you, matt, because you're on the right, and your sense of this election. was romney too moderate and too big tent and not fervent enough and not that much of a conviction politician or was he unable to reach all kinds of people that just didn't go for the conservative message? >> you know, if you look at this race, it wasn't so much conservative versus moderate. it was lacking a set of issues. you really struggled to see what mitt romney was for, and there is a sense amongst the establishment republican political class to not run on issues, to almost run a beauty contest, and mitt romney lost that fight against barack obama. i think it's pretty clear that when republicans run on core fiscal conservative issues and offer a positive, compelling

case for those issues, they do win. >> do you buy that, governor? >> no, not at all. i mean, mike castle would have crushed our democratic candidate for senate. he lost to a tea party candidate. richard lugar would have beaten our candidate in indiana. he lost to a tea party candidate. look, it's not moderate versus conservative. it's sensible and rational. the tea party, no offense to mr. kibbe who i have seen on tv and is a pretty decent guy, but they're running often a bunch of wackos whose view on key issues, not just economic issues, is so far afield from ordinary americans that they're destined to lose. >> well, what about -- >> no offense. >> no offense, of course. that's how you speak with no offense in philly. let me ask you, matt, with no offense here, what about this guy mourdock who talked about rape in the strangest way or the other guy, akin, who talked about legitimate rape, and what

about that woman out in -- i forget her name, unfortunately, out in nevada who was really tough on -- sharron angle who was so tough on issues she was talking about. do you think they're saying it the wrong way when they're speaking conservative language or they're saying something wrong? >> well, you know, todd akin -- >> which is it? >> todd akin was never a tea party candidate. that's important. there were two other primary challengers who were the favorite of the tea party who focused on fiscal -- >> were they to his right? >> no -- well, they were focused on economic issues. he was always from the social conservative wing of the party, but a big fan of earmarks. even claire mccaskill discovered she was against earmarks. democrats ran on what i would call tea party issues, but there is no tea party. there is a set of issues that define the tea party movement, and you had both republicans and democrats successfully running against earmarks, distancing themselves from obama care, running for balanced budget. >> you say it's fiscal issues, but below the surface you hear a lot of concern about illegal immigration, anger about it from tea party people.

it's not all numbers. >> it's not -- that's -- >> tell me how you deal with the immigration issue when you're talking to people who are here without papers or their families came here without papers and they come in that situation? they hear you say self-deport. they hear get out of here, which is literally what romney was saying, get out of here. is that -- did he say it wrong or did he say something wrong? did he say it the wrong way? >> are you calling mitt romney a tea party candidate? this is how it gets so confusing. >> you take a strict line on immigration. are you appealing to immigrants or not? >> here is what i think the tea party philosophy is on a lot of things. everybody should follow the same rules as everybody else, and we don't like changing the rules after the fact, and we'd like to get at the government failure on immigration. why is it that people who want to come here and work can't go through a rational process? isn't that part of the illegal problem? why don't we fix the government failure first? >> yeah, i'm with you. i would like to see work permits like in every other country in the universe, but the libertarians on the right don't believe in work permits.

do they? the dick armeys of the world hate work permits. your witness, governor. >> but work permits are one of the answers to a long-term immigration bill. look, the problem is, on fiscal policy, first of all, matt, i would honestly say that this election rejected a lot of the fiscal policy that the right has been pushing. and i don't know specifically tea party, but i think americans do want government to be involved. i think sandy brought that issue home with a crashing reality. they don't want big government, but they want effective government. they want government to play a role in their life. they don't want a government that doesn't spend money on the things that are important to them. >> i want you to take this challenge from rush limbaugh, matt, and you are a good guy, so take on rushbo because either you're a solution, the cheerleader, or a problem. the day after the election rush limb bowe bau was saying, don't go crazy, republicans, you already have your outreach efforts in place. listen to this guy. i think he gets the point of it, ironically. >> clarence thomas, herman cain,

none of it counts. don't tell me the republican party doesn't have outreach. we do. but what are we supposed to do now? are we supposed to -- in order to get the hispanic or latino vote, does that mean open the borders and embrace the illegals? is that -- i want you to think about this. if we're not getting the female vote, do we become pro-choice? do we start passing out birth control pills? is that what we have to do? >> is that what they have to do, matt? >> no. i think our movement is colorblind, and the irony of what we've done is we've repopulated the republican party with men and women, black, brown, white, it doesn't really matter because we judge people on issues. where do you think ted cruz came from? where do you think marco rubio came from? it wasn't the establishment of the party. it was us. we don't judge people based on the color of your skin. i thought that's what we all believed. >> they judge you that way. >> i think they judge you that

way because they have a sense looking ronald reagan on forward, you're not a party of a welcome mat for minorities. >> we have to work on that, absolutely. and i think that's what this -- we're repopulating the whole republican party. it's no longer octogenarian white guys. we're bringing in everybody. >> governor, he's portraying a party that doesn't exist yet. i don't know where that republican party works. where is that party? >> they really don't seem to have learned lessons. literally, matt, less than a week after the election results where single women voted against the republican party 68-30, ohio republicans went ahead and put essentially a personhood bill on the floor of the ohio legislature, a personhood bill that was turned down in mississippi. are you guys nuts? >> no, i'm not nuts, actually. >> what do you answer? >> i don't even know what a personhood -- >> it says at the time of your conception, a fetus' conception, the second after sex basically, all of a sudden 14th amendment

rights are appropriate, life, liberty, and property. whatever that means. >> i think any conversation that's not about the fiscal crisis and the government spending too much money it doesn't have is off base right now, and i think that's what the tea party brought back to the conversation. we're actually concerned -- >> you say that. now, look, you keep saying it's only about money and dollars and cents. if it's only about that, the conservative party would be doing very well. but you always go off into this other -- here's senator marco rubio. i thought he was just a fiscal conservative. >> unbelievable. >> he looks pretty eager to curry favor with the hard right. take a look at what he said in an interview with "gq" magazine when asked how old the earth is. i'm not a scientist, man. i can tell what you recorded history says. i can tell what you the bible says, but i think that's a dispute among theologians. i think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the united states, whether the earth was created in seven days or seven actual eras. i'm not sure we'll ever be able

to answer it. it's one of the great mysteries. the question to him is do you believe in science. that's a reasonable question. if lucy is over 2 million years old and we have scientific evidence of human life of some form going way back 2 million years, do you just ignore that because it says something in the bible? what do you do? and a person who believes that like that, doesn't separate his religion from his scientific faith, don't you have a problem with that person talking to them? >> i wonder why -- why do we care what -- >> why does he say that? why doesn't he say i believe in science? just say it. >> why do we care about what any politician -- >> because we talk about global warming and things like that. you would like to think you can start from a common basis believing in a scientific method. or else not. if you don't, then how do you have a conversation? >> i don't even see the link between the two. i happen to not know how old the earth is and -- >> governor, you again, because i don't know -- i'd like -- if i saw a doctor and on his wallet said imaginative design or some theory, i would say i wish you had taken biology in school just to start or organic chem.

start with the basics. >> i'm all for science. >> but, matt, it does matter, matt, because on the issue of global warming, most of the people in the republican party and a number of tea partyites deny the science which is absolutely clear and, of course, sandy brought it home to us again, that what we are doing, what men are doing to the environment is causing global warming. and if you deny that, it means you're not going to take steps to prevent it. so it is important. it is important whether people deny science or not. >> so there's only -- i mean, we're accepting that there's one science, and this is pretty interesting. >> 98% of scientists tell us that what we are doing to the environment has an effect, and if you haven't seen the changes in weather -- how old are you, matt? >> i'm 49. >> how old are you? >> 49. >> if you haven't seen the changes in weather in the last 20 years in your lifetime, then you are oblivious. the weather is changing. we are screwing things up -- >> this has nothing to do with what marco rubio said at all.

>> i think -- just answer the question. >> sure it does. if he denies science, he should say i believe in science. >> he doesn't deny science. i mean, that's ridiculous. >> he did on that. >> let me ask you -- i got up in philadelphia putting chains on my tires about every day when i went to high school. getting chains on the tires with the ice and snow is the way we lived. what happened? just what happened? >> weather changes. i mean -- >> it changes. i get you. >> have you noticed that? >> i would say it has been changing. i'd say new york is refitting itself from being under water practically. >> let's talk about a practical thing. if -- >> global warming is very important. >> okay. global warming is very important. what is it that we think that a bunch of politicians in washington, d.c., who can't even balance the budget, what are they going to do about global warming, seriously? >> i'll give you a perfect example. >> there's such a thing as political failure. there's such a thing as the limits to what government can do. if you really think that the climate is changing, do you

really think that government can redesign the entire global economy, not just in the united states but in the entire world, in a more rational way? i think you're expecting too much from politics. >> not at all, matt. i'll give you just one example. and there are a legion of examples, by building up the c.a.f.e. standards, the miles per hour the cars are to get. we are burning significantly less petroleum because of what the obama administration has done to raise those standards. for every time we double the mileage requirement for cars, we are eliminating a significant amount of co2 that goes into the atmosphere. that's something government did, did it, you know, in a forthright fashion, and it is making a difference. >> okay. government put a man on the moon. government is not essentially incompetent. that's ridiculous argument. when we start taking steamship rides across the polar cap, i think you should admit something is going on a little different than, as you put it, weather changes. there ain't going to be a north pole anymore. where is santa claus going to live?

anyway, ed rendell, thank you, governor, and thank you, matt for putting up with the truth, at least for ten minutes. >> more on the republican civil war. a crush rush. the sensible voices in the republican party are letting old rushbo in on a secret. it's not your grandfather's rural, white, conservative america anymore. plus, cementing our legacy. hillary clinton lands in israel. she's there to broker a truce between israel and hamas. and what could be her last big act before she leaves the stage. for now. and that was -- was this the best out of the 2012 campaign? ♪ oh beautiful for spacious skies ♪ ♪ for amber waves of grain >> the best and worst political ads and candidates coming up in the "sideshow." and let me finish with my advice for the president's second term. i think it's important for him and us. this is "hardball," the place for politics. how can you get back pain relief that lasts up to 16 hours? with thermacare heatwraps. thermacare works differently. it's the only wrap with patented heat cells that penetrate deep to relax, soothe, and unlock tight muscles.

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okay. so you people are all white, 65 and over, and you live in the sticks, and you are screwing up the republican party because you are believing what i say. this is their explanation for having lost. >> welcome back to "hardball." that was rush limbaugh -- he's a performer -- yesterday telling his audience that so-called reasonable republicans have it wrong. rush is upset because they're

calling him one of the problems on the right. but the problem for republicans is that they'll never expand their base if rush is the target audience. let's be honest. with me are two radio talk show hosts, michael smerconish of philadelphia and ron reagan in seattle. gentlemen, let's take what look got rush so rild up. here is mike murphy. i thought he was one of the smarter conservatives, on "meet the press" last sunday. >> it's very fashionable now to beat up romney, and he made an unfortunate comment after the election, but the biggest problem he had was the republican primary. that's what is driving the republican brand to a disaster. we have to get a party view of america that's not right out of rush limbaugh's dream journal. >> here is steve schmidt breaking down the election problems last week in a bite that sent rush limbaugh into a terror. better off running against the real president obama as opposed to the sinister pretend president obama, and the total lack of credibility with some of

this stuff i think is just absolutely repellent to the middle of the electorate. and then when you look at the demographics, who is rush limbaugh talking to? he is talking to a demographic that's white, 65-plus, and rural. that's not what the country looks like anymore. so you have these talk radio hosts making millions and millions and millions of dollars a year, driving a message of complete and total ludicrous nonsense into the electorate, a lot of it poisonous. >> here is rush responding to that little gem right there from steve schmidt. >> you got to get a view of the republican party that is not right out of my dream journal. what, folks, did i or any of you have to do with the republican primary? did not murphy get the candidate he wanted? all these consultants -- do you realize they get rich no matter who wins or loses?

little known secret, they get rich no matter who wins or loses. but the republican primary, what was wrong with the republican primary -- as far as he's concerned there were too many conservatives in it saying too many stupid things. we need to get rid of conservatism is what he's saying. we know schmidt knows how to lose, and we know that murphy knows how to lose, and so it's quite natural to blame somebody else. obama got away with it. obama blamed bush, and he got away with it. people bought it. so now these guys want to blame me. >> michael smerconish, i don't even know who you voted for, so you're fascinating to me as always. here is the guy -- did you hear what he said, limbaugh? i have always had a theory in politics, if you listen to people when they make their harshest criticism of the other side, it's usually about themselves. he said these guys get rich no matter who wins or loses.

talk about rush. he's never taken a loss. rush wins no matter what because there's always somebody in the car willing to listen to him because they're lonely basically. your thoughts. >> the irony is the same demographic problem faced by the gop is faced by talk radio, and steve schmidt was making reference to that. both are overly dependent on older white guys, but they have different objectives because the republican party exists for one purpose, and that is to win elections. to get to 51%. that doesn't need to be the objective of the talk radio industry. the talk radio industry is predicated on a very small but very loyal audience, and like those consultants to whom rush refers, he stays in a position of power regardless of who wins the election. as a matter of fact, there's a good school of thought out there it bodes well for him because president obama has been re-elected. >> and then he becomes the government in exile, right. >> correct. antagonizing the incumbent.

>> that's a good thought. do you agree with that, ron, that rush benefits from being perceived or -- a self-perceived minority, an aggrieved minority, a small group of guys who aren't appreciated and everybody else is a femi-nazi or whatever other term he puts out there. >> right. and rush, as you pointed out the irony, he prospers no matter what and he's probably thrilled barack obama has been re-elected so he can hammer him for the next four years. the republican party's problem is much bigger than rush limbaugh or fox news, much bigger than demographics, ethnicity, age and all of that. it's ignorance, and it was typified by marco rubio the other day. you mentioned that in the last segment. marco rubio, who is a fairly bright, young guy, who probably does know how old the planet earth is, felt compelled to pretend differently. so he's either stupid or he's pandering to ignorance. that's what the republican party has gotten stuck with, pandering to ignorance all the time. a sizable chunk of their party

simply doesn't know what kind of planet they live on. they have all sorts of fantasy -- >> what do you think, ron -- that's very tough. do you think they believe some liberal from new york snuck around the planet and buried all those old bones at one point in time to create this case there was a 2 million-year-old human history? what do they think -- how did lucy get there? how do they find -- what is their explanation for the fact that there were dinosaurs on this planet? how do they deny it? >> listen to congressman paul bruin of georgia, who is on the house of representatives science committee, talking to his constituents about how it's all the devil's woshg trying to fool people and that he's worked out that the planet is actually only 9,000 years old. i mean, this is what these people believe. and, yeah, somebody is out there burying ancient fossils on their way to creating a hoax called global warming. you know, it's all of a piece. >> i think the bible is for moral truth.

i think that's a safe subject -- safe assessment. i don't think it's for scientific information, and i don't think anybody really thinks it does. but, michael, let me get back to this question. the republican party is right now in a period, and we're watching it and enjoying it to some extent, looking for what went wrong. some believe it's the loudness from the right. some believe they didn't run a real right wing candidate. my argument would be if they ran the real thing, like they always say, we'll run the real thing, they'll find themselves in even a narrower -- or smaller circle to defend. >> well, those two thoughts are actually related, and here is how. the group that you're talking about, this cabal between talk radio and fox news and conservative outposts, has a stranglehold on primary voters. there's been an exodus of independents from the gop. they do take their marching orders from the individuals that you're talking about and so, too, do republican elected officials because they've got to play to that primary base. where this campaign went off the rails, i say, is that governor

romney had to sell crazy in primary season. he was one of those hands that went in the air and said, i would reject a 10 for 1 deal. in a nutshell, that's where they went off track. they would reject $10 of spending cuts for every $1 of tax increases. why? because they didn't want to face condemnation from the media hosts you're now addressing the following day. >> and it's just like -- i'll say this again. they used to say -- i won't use the bad word, but the old days in the south, you couldn't win unless you were the furthest out of the most segregationist line. if anybody went soft on the race issue, even slightly on civil rights, you were finished. the only way you won was go hard right and become the ultimate segregationist, and that held the south back for decades. anyway, thank you, michael and ron reagan. have a nice holiday. up next, the best and worst campaign commercials of the 2012 campaign coming up. it's kind of interesting. forgot a lot of these. this is "hardball," the place for politics. twins. i didn't see them coming.

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back to "hardball." now to the "sideshow." first off, the political version of the oscars, kind of. "the washington post" is out with its list of the 2012 election fixies they call them for the best and worst candidates and ads of this election cycle. first the ads. the best goes to the obama campaign with this "america the beautiful" themed anti-romney ad. ♪ o beautiful for spacious skies ♪ ♪ for aim amber waves of grain ♪ for purple mountains majesty ♪ above the fruited plain ♪ america america god shed his grace on thee ♪ worst goes to todd akin for

his straight to camera apology ad following his remarks about so-called legitimate rape. he lost the election over that one statement. no ad was going to win back the voting. now to the candidates. best goes to the democratic senator-elect heidi heitkamp of north dakota. she had a surprising victory in a red state won easily by mitt romney. "the washington post" notes heitkamp's positive ad campaign as one reason she came out on top. finally, the not so desirable fixy for worst candidate of the 2012 election cycle. spoiler alert here, oops. >> i would do away with the education, the -- >> commerce. >> -- commerce. and let's see -- i can't. the third one i can't. sorry. oops. i come from a state, you know, where they had this little place called the alamo and they declared victory or death. you know, we're kind of into those slogans, man. it's like live free or die, victory or death, bring it. >> well, there you have it. rick perry.

a lot of people thought he had a good shot at the nomination when he first entered the race. i did until i got to know him. finally, what's mitt romney been up to post-election? this photo of the former candidate putting gas in his car has gone viral overnight. regular guy mitt, a snapshot like this might have helped him out during the campaign, a little human behavior that a lot of people weren't sure he actually took part in. instead, we have this quote from political analyst larry sabato. i just don't think romney ever established an emotional connection with much of anybody in the party. he was essentially a cyborg designed to win the presidency, and when he failed, he was placed in a disposal bin. that's cold. up next, hillary clinton is in the middle east right now. she got there in one flight. from burma, looking to end the violence between israel and hamas. could be her last act as secretary of state, and it could cement her legacy. let's see how she's doing. that is "hardball," the place for politics. [ male announcer ] introducing zzzquil sleep-aid. it's not for colds, it's not for pain, it's just for sleep.

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here's what's happening. police say a 13-year-old girl was fatally shot aboard a school bus in florida. a male student is in custody and a gun was recovered at the scene. kevin clash resigned amid allegations he had a relationship with a teenager he met online. software founder john mcafee says he's hiding in plain sight in belize where he's wanted in questioning for the murder of his neighbor. back to "hardball." back to "hardball." secretary of state hillary clinton landed on choppy diplomatic waters today when she peeled off from the trip to asia with the president to wade into the growing conflict between israel and hamas. shortly after landing in israel today, she met with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. let's watch. >> president obama asked me to

come to israel with a very clear message. america's commitment to israel's security is rock solid and unwavering. the rocket attacks from terrorist organizations inside gaza on israeli cities and towns must end and a broader calm restored. >> with her time as secretary of state coming to an end, clinton's diplomatic push will likely be one of her most climactic acts in this business, in fact, very much near the end of her term. it could help define her legacy. we're joined by robin wright and steve clemons, washington editor-at-large for "the atlantic." great to have you both experts on. what i'm fascinated by has always been the relationship starting at the time he named her secretary of state, and she agreed to take it. this was a mutual agreement. she could have said no and stayed as a very important senator from new york. this relationship, is it a familiar one like a president and his -- like kennedy and dean rusk or truman and dean acheson?

is it like that? we have a big president and a somewhat smaller cabinet minister or are they like equals? >> i think they're very much closer to equals, but this is not kissinger/nixon. hillary came in as the far more experienced person when it came to knowing the world. her husband had been president. she'd toured the world. he had been very involved -- >> she was an international figure. >> she was an international figure. obama was the ingenue. i think obama has become a much stronger president on foreign policies. i know there were a couple situations where she's come through with proposals that he's challenged osh -- >> quickly, when -- i always like the way the language -- these communiques go out. this report the other night was hillary clinton is going, like chinese gordon, to solve a big dispute, one of those wonderful moments when charles "chinese" gordon comes in and tries to deal with the situation in cartoon. it was the president's dispatching her. i thought that was an interesting way of saying it. it wasn't like i'm going to go. is that interesting to you? >> no. look, she's not going to say, i

decided on my own i should come here. >> but she brokered from a diplomatic effort over in the far east. >> he was coming home. this was an initiative that she -- that the administration wanted to say comes from the president. it has the white house's initiative, and so that's important to the process that unfolds. >> okay. you're over there and you're netanyahu, no friend of the president, they have a cold peace at best. she's going there -- does israel want this conflict to end or do they want to use it to clear the missile sites out of gaza? >> i think it wants security for israelis, and it will do whatever it takes. >> does it mean continuing the conflict or ending it? >> if hamas doesn't stop, that means continuing it -- >> i think they're going to clear the missile sites and then go to iran if they had to. >> i don't think the conflicts are necessarily related. >> steve, how do you see it? do you see it as part of an incipient conflict with iran that's coming? we all know it's going to be coming in some form. or is it the usual problem, israel has a difficult, in fact, violent neighbor that wants to keep bothering them with missiles. >> bottom line, there's an

election coming up in israel, and there's a strange correlation between elections and this kind of violence. i think the cabinet in israel wants to show how strong it is, but the bigger problem beyond iran, and robin knows this as well, they're sort of a tsunami in the region. you have a rise of political islamic movements that have been democratically elected and empowered, and they are furious and upset and bonded and reaching out to those who feel under stress in gaza. as i've said before, the u.s./israel relationship is sort of like a new orleans levee. it's working until a big storm comes, and israel has been unable or unwilling to change the terms of its security in its neighborhood when i think it's had ample opportunity to try and do so. >> how does it work on the ground between the secretary and the president? are they back and forth on how they deal with it or does she have a free hand to solve this problem? >> i think she talks to the white house quite often, will brief him on any -- what bibi says to her about what israel's goals are and again when she

goes to cairo and meets with president morsi, which is arguably the most important stop on this trip. >> because he's the mediator. >> and president obama has developed a very interesting relationship over the past -- >> i think we have to hold onto morsi. >> -- with the president of egypt. >> don't you? >> absolutely. >> last word, steve. how important -- >> let's be clear -- >> always had the deal between israel and egypt in the interest of both countries and our country. can we keep that deal? is there some architecture for peace there? >> we're going to try to keep that deal absolutely, but, remember, we're complicit in part of what happened. obama when he took george mitchell's resignation and basically moved dennis ross out of the white house, he doesn't put a new program on the table. and when america walks away from this peace process or an effort to bring the two sides together and really lay out a plan, violence kicks up. so we have a bit of complicity, and you are seeing right now not a strategic presidency from obama but a reactive presidency, and that doesn't bode well for this. >> do you agree with that? if you're not moving forward, you're moving backwards on the peace treaty, the peace process?

>> i think you plod forward or stay -- i'm not sure it's unraveling. i still think the amazing thing about all of the changes in the middle east is that you still have a commitment of all the key players to the peace process. >> i know. it's not as bad as "w" where he just did nothing. that's my opinion. thank you both. i want to see peace over there, but i want to have a long-term problem of iran dealt with. we have a lighter note coming up. a couple of comedians who do i great impression of president obama we see and his secret luther really out there voicing and dramatizing his real feelings. it's very interesting. stay with this. it's very political. comedy central's key and peele join us next. this is "hardball," the place for politics. jooifshgs-e a restaurant is har, try running four. fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores.

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these guys, key and peele on comedy central, they've got -- they've got a guy who imitates me pretty well. >> yeah. >> and the premise is i'm sitting in the oval office, and he's got an anger translator named luther. so i'll make my little speech and luther will come on and say -- i can't actually repeat what luther -- it's pretty good stuff. >> that's really good. >> it's good stuff. >> welcome back to "hardball." when the president says he likes your show, it can be incredible in terms of consequence. look how the show "homeland" took off, which i happen to love. anyway, after the president said he watched that. anyway, let's talk about this one. let's talk about the clip from another show he just said he liked right there with jimmy fallon, "key & peele." >> to the american people, i

just want to say that the debates are over, but now is not a time to tally points or to keep the score. >> 2-1, obama. game, set, match, touchdown, home run, checkmate, can we get back to work now? >> governor romney, in the recent debate i laid out the inconsistencies in your stated beliefs. >> governor romney. i'm going to tell you -- governor romney, why you smiling while you're getting your [ bleep ] kicked? are we debating or are you trying to sell me a lexus? >> i directly questioned you about your opposition to the auto industry bailout. >> on behalf of all the people in detroit that want to stab you, i ask again, why are you smiling? >> i spoke about brinksmanship with iran, and you just said you wanted a peaceful planet. >> are you holding that gravy up in here. i'm sorry, mitt, if you want to be the first mormon hippie, you're going to need to grow your hair out, dog. and quit smiling! [ bleep ]. >> wow.

i'm joined by keegan-michael key, key, and jordan peele. otherwise known as peele. i mentioned i moved down to the end of the couch, first time i've been through that experience. couch have you to be on first, which is the clip. i have to ask you about, how did you come across this notion of the alter ego for the president, who is a little more dramatic? you want to do that, michael? what was the spark that led you to believe there was an invisible obama with an attitude? >> a few years back when joe wilson had the "you lie" statement, jordan and i were trying to figure out something to write about the president. we figured we have to have the president in our show, we being biracial. we discussing that thing about joe wilson, if you said that, a president should be allowed to react to that comment. and then he just didn't -- he just can't because of who he is. so, we figured out, gosh, we have to have somebody speak for him.

and that could work for us comedically. that was one aspect. >> we're pacing around my house, my apartment. we wanted to find that voice for the president, but also, you know, my -- you know, my partner keegan, he's pretty excitable. he gets going. he's like cory booker with three red bulls, you know? he gets pretty heated. so we found this -- we found this sort of two-man impression that would also sort of allow people to, you know, have this moment of catharsis and release of things that a lot of people know but not a lot of people are talking about. >> we have -- go ahead. here's another clip following the second presidential debate where the president turned his guns. they deconstruct the night and go over it like you do after a big night. let's listen. >> he was proud of his efforts to include qualified women in his cabinet. >> you made it sound like finding a qualified woman is like hunting down a sasquatch.

riding on the back of a unicorn reading the specifics of your tax plan. >> drew a tenuous connection between single parent households and gun violence. >> yes, children of single parents usually grow up to use ak-47s. or become the president. >> wow. tell me what -- i always liked the few minutes i had with the president. they are scarce and rare. but he always has this other level to him, which is very cool, very funny, very hip. >> yeah. >> do you want -- jordan, you want to start on that, what it was like to chat with him? >> that's right. we got to meet him at the beverly hilton, where he was staying, after that whole big clooney thing, where the real stars were. we got a special meeting. first thing he says, he looks at keegan and goes, now, i need luther. i need him. going to have to wait till second term, but i need him. out of the gate he was pretty hilarious.

you know, it was just the best experience of our lives. we got bro hugs from him. he said, you know, i know it's hard for a brother on tv, i know it. you know, motive, you know. he puts his hand on your shoulder -- on your shoulder. just really sort of warm guy. >> yeah, he is that way. he's very -- i wonder whether he rehearses this stuff ahead of time because it's so to the point. michael, you guys come from mixed parents, black and white parents. this thing about one of you guys were -- it was peele the other night talking to me about how you guys can tell jokes that nobody else on the planet can tell, like football players' names, the birth names. they can be pretty original. >> with my name, my name is, you know, keegan-michael key, and i've been cursed with this name my whole -- in fact, in this very broadcast you've called me michael, which is certainly not your fault because my parents gave me a weird name. >> well, what did they call you at home? >> keegan.

they call me keegan at home. but it's like, because of my name, i'm fascinated with really interesting names. i think it's a testament to the mother's imaginations. i think they want their kids to have really good names or interesting names that nobody else has. but part of it is being biracial jordan and i can be -- we're kind of like racial referees, in a way, because we straddle both cultures. and as does the president in a particular way. >> i guess he does. >> so it's like thomas jefferson, you know, he used to have a bed you could walk into either room, depending on what side of the bed you got out of but he had a biracial experience himself, come to think of it. >> yes, he did. seven of them, at least. thank you, guys. good luck with everything you're doing. keegan-michael key and jordan peele. >> thank you. when we return, let me finish with president obama's second term and the need i need to go for greatness like he did for the first time. joe biden is celebrating his 70th birthday today. he's a youthful kind of guy,

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let me finish with this. the obama second term. i don't know anyone who doesn't want it to be better than the first. he did valuable, historic things in the first but i want him to join the list of truly great presidents. for that i have advice.

go high, fill your cabinet with top people. go for the people you couldn't get your first term. don't promote people. go out and get the best, like mike bloomberg, people difficult to deal with, with egos and separate distinctions, principles. don't head to the second term by filling your white house and cabinet with people your comfortable with. fill it with the highest, toughest talent, people who got there on their own without your help. ike made sherman a chief of staff, a crooked one, disaster. ike had imagined. reagan blew it by letting his staffers pick chief of staff. clinton just did not have people around him who were ready to step up and keep him from the problem of monica, something they saw but didn't stop. everyone who voted for barack obama wants this presidency to end on an upward trajectory, getting be